1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to face masks, specifically to a flexible transparent plastic screen for protecting a user's face, ears, and neck from hair spray.
2. Prior Art
People applying hair spray can easily get unwelcome, unpleasant, and sometimes harmful hair spray on their faces, hands, and into their eyes and ears. Therefore, many try to shield these areas with a hand, a towel, or other protective covering, and spray with the other hand. After spraying one half of the hairdo, they would switch hands to spray the other half. However, a hand is not large enough to make an effective shield. A larger, hand-held shield may also be ineffective, because it may not always be positioned correctly, especially when it must not block one's view.
Several proposed face masks or shields can be used for protecting a user's face from hair spray. U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,206,760 to Santala (1963); 3,317,921 to Zarzour (1964); 3,602,913 to Neese (1971); and 3,963,034 to Runberg et al. (1976) show rigid hair spray shields that are held up to a user's face with one hand. However, they are inconvenient because they must be held with one hand, so that a user may have to switch the shield and the spray can between the two hands to spray both halves of the hairdo. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,428,079 to McKee (1984); 4,825,878 to Kuntz et al. (1989); 4,852,186 to Landis (1989); 4,864,653 to Landis (1989); 4,884,296 to Nix, Jr. (1989); and 4,944,312 to Smith (1990) show face masks or shields that are attached to the head with straps that completely encircle the head. However, the straps will substantially distort the hairdo, so that after hair spray is applied, the hair is fixed in the distorted shape.